Times Magazine, July 21, 2019

July 21, 2019

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2 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Feature Remembering Corporal Romain Cleto

that, because my world went black,” Bollers remembers.

She told the <<<Sunday Times Magazine>>> that despite their daughter, Nivia, being just a year old then, she knows who her father was and how he died.

The now seven-year-old is constantly reminded of her father, since there are several photographs of the two of them around the home.

Looking back on how much their lives have changed since Cleto’s tragic death, Bollers said moving on was more than tough.

Everywhere she turned, she was reminded of her profound loss and every time Romain Cleto

By Lakhram Bhagirat

H

e was gone in a matter of seconds. He took his last breath alone, lying on the hard cold streets of Georgetown while being riddled by bullets from those seeking to escape from him. He was just doing the job he loved doing and hoped to see his baby the next day.

Little did the family know

that they would see him for the last time and they did not know that “see you later” actually meant goodbye forever. For the past six years, the family of Police Corporal 20196 Romain Cleto has been searching for that opportunity to be at peace with the fact that he was brutally killed but to date, they are yet to come to terms with his death.

The bullet riddled vehicle

At just 25 and a new father, Cleto had his life snuffed out by bandits who were going about wreaking havoc on several communities.

On April 27, 2013, Cleto reported for duty and was leading a mobile patrol in the vicinity of Regent Street and the Avenue of the Republic

in Georgetown when they approached a suspiciouslooking silver-coloured car.

That fateful incident occurred just after 18:30h that Saturday evening. The area was busy at that time since it was in close vicinity to the University of GuyanaPlaisance Minibus Park just outside the Bank of Baroda and the attack was described as like being in a combat zone.

“Corporal 20196 Romain Cleto was fatally shot while Constable 21240 Randy Daly was shot and injured to his left arm and Constable 21144 Anil Persaud was injured by glass from the shattered windscreen. The injured ranks are being treated at the hospital,” the Guyana Police Force said in a statement following the incident.

Cleto was pronounced dead on arrival at the Georgetown Public Hospital while his colleagues nursed their injuries. Based on eyewitness accounts, the new father noticed the suspicious-looking vehicle and began to approach it. However, before he could make contact with the occupants, they began to riddle him with bullets, causing his death almost instantaneously.

They also turned their locked and loaded gun(s) in the direction of the patrol vehicle and continued their assault before speeding off.

The pavement was stained with Cleto’s blood as he took his last breaths and several spent shells were recovered by his colleagues.

The Bank of Baroda building also had several bullet holes.

As that was going down, Cleto’s girlfriend, Reanna Bollers was at home with their one-year-old daughter expecting that he would be home with them soon.

It was some time around 19:00h when Bollers received a call informing her

Nivia Celto all grown up

that the father of her daughter was involved in an accident and she should make her way to the Georgetown Public Hospital.

“When I got the call, I was at home with the baby and they told me that Romain was in an accident and that he at the Georgetown Hospital. I thought something happened to the vehicle and that was it, so I rush down to the hospital. But when I get there, my heart sink because I know something really bad had happened.

“When I got to the hospital and I see the people and I immediately know that it was serious. I was still thinking that it was an accident, but then they told me that there was a shooting and Romain was shot and pronounced dead at the hospital. I did not really remember anything after

she looked at their daughter, she was reminded of the need to move ahead.

Being 22 and a new mother made moving on much more difficult.

“It has been real hard for me to move on, because Romain was the first person in my life. It was hard for me and my daughter, because I was studying her the most because she would have been the one without a father. Moving on was hard, because I worry about our daughter because she was now fatherless.”

Nivia is growing up beautifully, but for Bollers, it is sad because her first love has missed every milestone in their baby girl’s life.

“Life goes on and we have to move on, but he is forever with us. We miss him every day and wished he was here.

We really do.”

JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine

3

Feature Remembering Constable Rayon Roberts

exactly who murdered her husband.

She was able to get a good look at them and later identified them as notorious criminals Christopher Belle, Romel Reman, and Roger Bunbury.

“I could not walk free (after I identified them), because I would have to look over my shoulder. I was inside most of the time and could not work. My husband never let me work and now he was gone, and I had six children and no help at all. We were building a house on Railway Embankment at

Rayon’s widow Sharon Roberts

By Lakhram Bhagirat

L

aw enforcement officers face a great deal of danger every day in the execution of their duties.

They are quite often the first in the line of fire and put their lives in danger to protect ours from criminal elements. In the execution of their duties, some of those officers lose their lives and leave behind families.

In many cases, those fallen officers are the sole breadwinners and when they lose their lives, their families feel the brunt of the hardships.

That is exactly the case of Sharon Roberts, who is still trying to pick up the pieces some 16 years after losing her beloved.

Police Constable 14500 Rayon Roberts was gunned down on Thursday, January 2, 2003 in what can only be described as an act of cowardice. The father of six was one of the many targets for bandits who wreaked havoc on the nation during the 2002-2009 crime wave. It was during that period that the Guyana Police Force lost a number of its officers who were the target of these bandits.

When he lost his life, Roberts was one of four Policemen who resided in Bent Street, Wortmanville.

It was sometime about 22:30h on January 2, 2003 and Roberts was at a shop a short distance away from his home when three men walked up to him and opened fire. According to media reports from back then, three of the bullets were said to have lodged in his head: one which entered from the lower temple and lodged in the forehead; one that entered through the back of his head which also lodged in the forehead, and a third that entered through the forehead.

The Police had recovered five .32 spent shells from the scene.

Roberts’s widow, Sharon, is still battling to piece together her life after losing him. She goes about every day wondering where the next meal is going to come from and how she will survive. Her husband had been a member of the Guyana Police Force for some 13 years before he was brutally murdered.

Remembering that fateful day, Sharon said that their fifth child, Randy, was celebrating his second birthday and her husband had gone to the shop to buy groceries when he was executed.

“He come home to buy ice cream and he went across to the shop. He went to buy the cream, cigarettes and a Guinness, and I see this three men pass me on the bridge and I ain’t really tek it fuh nothing really, so they passed me back on our bridge here and all I hear was gunshot start firing,” she related.

Sensing that her husband may have been in danger, Sharon, who had given birth some two months before, sprinted to the shop. When she got there, the sight was one that she vividly remembers to this day. There was her blood-soaked beloved, crouched up and lifeless. She screamed like the proverbial “mad woman”. She screamed and screamed while holding his lifeless body. She was drenched in his blood as well and then a second later, her entire world went black.

Soon her husband’s colleagues came and pried her away from him; they took him to the Georgetown Public Hospital, where his death was confirmed.

Sharon remembers walking in a daze and being taken to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at the Brickdam Police Station where she was shown an album of possible suspects.

Shivers went down her spine as she skipped through the album because she knew

Liliendaal and I could not even go there.”

Today, she is facing the possibility of being rendered homeless, because her relatives already issued her with a notice asking her to “find somewhere else”.

After her husband died, Sharon had to take up employment and was initially offered a job with the Guyana Police Force and after a few months of taking up the job, she realised that her children were being neglected. So she chose to quit and started doing odd jobs around to provide for her family. She then ventured into making snacks to sell, but after a while the revenue did not equate with the expenses and she eventually turned to the securi-

ty service sector. Now she is working as a security guard for Radar Security Supplies and Service to send her last child to school.

“It is hard, really hard; it’s hard, man. I sit many days and I just cry, because I know if Rayon was here then life would be so much better for me and these children.

Three done married and got their families, but I still have three and one is in school. He is the baby and he got to write exam next year. Hopefully, I can afford to pay his fees. My children does miss their father and Randy, although he is 18, does still cry every time it is his birthday, because he does miss his father,” Sharon said amid tears.

It is some 16 years now

since Rayon has been dead, but for Sharon it feels like just yesterday, because every day is a struggle. A struggle to survive, a struggle to provide for her family, and a struggle to keep her sanity.

She goes days without sleep and meals, because the bills need to be paid, children need to be fed and there is never enough for them all.

She is, now more than ever, on the edge because of her impeding homelessness. Now at 50 years old, she finds it extremely hard to try to start over, because she could never move on.

She still smells her beloved’s blood, feels it drenching her, and sits with his pictures and cry.

4

Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Feature

Remembering Special Constable Kwesi Lawrence

Venice Sam

By Lakhram Bhagirat

T

here is an indescribable pain associated with losing a child. It is one that many try to describe but fail. The pain envelops your entire body and weasels its way into every nook and cranny. It makes every breath taken feel as though thousands of needles are piercing your body.

But as a parent, how does one move on after losing a child?

The answer to that question is yet to be found by the millions seeking it.

For almost 13 years, Venice Sam has been searching everywhere for that answer and it seems as though she will be searching for the

rest of her life. Part of her world went dark on Sunday, July 31, 2006 when her son, Guyana Police Force Special Constable Kwesi Lawrence was shot and killed.

He was just 19 years old with a full life ahead.

Though his death was an accident, the loss had a profound impact on the family, particularly his mother, with whom he was very close. The Guyana Police Force said that Lawrence was on a Joint Services operation in the backlands on the East Coast of Demerara when he was accidentally shot by another rank who was cleaning his M-70 rifle.

“I miss him every day, because he was the best of the pack. He was very loving and when he would wake up every morning and give me a hug and kiss and then say ‘Mommy, I love you’ and would always do everything I ask,” Sam says as she reminisced on the memories of her son.

She said her son was shot to his hip and bled to death en route to the hospital. As a mother, she felt every imaginable feeling when she heard he had died. The light just went out and nev-

er came back on. Sam, to this day, is still coming to terms with the loss of her middle child.

Being a part of the Police Force was always the end goal for Lawrence and helping him get in to the Force

ple that was like Police or soldiers and he always heard me saying that I like military work. He always said when he grows up he wanted to be a Police or soldier. “ W h e n they eventually called him, he was so excited and he said

Kwesi Lawrence

was a task his mother undertook. She was the one who filled out the application, took him to interviews, and even took him to his first day of training.

“He always wanted to become a Police Officer. As a child growing up, he was always a quiet person, he was always willing and he would kind of look up to peo-

‘Look, I am going to be a Policeman now and when they see me, they gotta respect me’. He imagined himself in the uniform.”

Lawrence was still undergoing training at the time of his death, and because of the crime situation at that time, he was called to join one of the several operations to catch criminals who were wreaking havoc on the country. He was very eager to fulfil his duty to his country and protect citizens with the full support of his mother, who had also been part of the Force but had resigned.

She remembers the day she received the call informing her of Lawrence’s death.

She describes it as one of the toughest days she has had

and one that she wishes on no one.

She was at home with her family when the phone rang some time around 02:00h on August 1, 2006. She answered and it was a friend who lived a short distance away. The friend, who was part of the Neighbourhood Policing Group, asked to her to immediately pay her a visit. With shaky knees, Sam made the approximately five-minute journey and when she arrived, the friend sat her down.

After she stopped shaking, the friend asked that she call her mother which she did.

“I know it was something about death, but my mind did not run on Kwesi. So when I called my mother she told me that Kwesi get shoot and he dead. I dropped the phone and I ran back home and I told my husband and his siblings. I try to describe what I feel, but unto now I can’t do it. I cannot describe how I feel about his death or how it affects me. I am still trying.”

After that call, later in the day, the Police Welfare Officer contacted both Sam and Lawrence’s father and invited them to talk about what had happened. But nothing mattered to her, because at that time she was grappling to accept the reality that her child was now dead, mere days before she would have celebrated her birthday.

The entire family felt the impact of his death, because he would usually aid in managing the household

as well as send his siblings to school. With that revenue gone, the hardships were there, staring the family in the face. His siblings had to start taking up jobs to make ends meet and aid in putting themselves through school.

It was a heart-breaking time for the family, because Sam was there watching them going through the motions and there was very little she could have done.

For two years, she worked with local race car driver Mark Vieira as his cook and he would help her with purchasing school supplies for the children.

However, she felt that it was time she gave back, even though she had very little, and continue the dream of her son, so she applied to become a Neighbourhood Police. But at that time there were pressing vacancies for SEs in the Force, so she was re-enlisted and has been serving ever since.

“Kwesi loved to sing and I miss that about him. He was loving and the others would say he is my favourite, because he was mannerly. He was kind. He was the best of the pack. To see him dead so young is something that breaks my heart, but life goes on. He is in my memory and always with me,” she says referring to the fact that she keeps his photograph in her wallet with her.

Sam has another son who is preparing to join the Police Force and despite the tragedy, she is full steam behind him.

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JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 5

Feature

Remembering Superintendent Leon Fraser

“He knew they were planning to kill him”

Leon Fraser

By Lakhram Bhagirat

W

hen someone decides to join the law enforcement sector, they know that they are literally putting their life on the line. They are okay with the fact at any given time they can be called on to defend the citizenry and that was exactly what Superintendent of Police, Leon Fraser, was doing when he became the target of notorious criminals.

On April 2, 2002, Fraser and a team were responding to a report on the Linden- Soesdyke Highway when he was gunned down. Media reports from back then indicated that the shootout was a well-orchestrated strike with the sole focus being Fraser.

At the time of his death, Fraser was one of the most feared/respected members of the Guyana Police Force and was responsible for a number of successful anti-crime operations. Based on information available, on the fateful day, Fraser led a team to Yarrowkabra on the Linden- Soesdyke Highway to investigate reports of a vehicle matching the description of one that was believed to have been hijacked by the February 23, 2002 Camp Street Prison escapees.

When they arrived, they were engaged in a gun battle with five men suspected to be the escapees. The men turned their guns on Fraser and took him out before making good their escape. Fraser was a controversial member of the Police Force as well as one of the most feared. There are reports that when he walked into communities riddled with crime, there would be silence and an instant clearing out of those criminal elements.

Sections of society lauded him while others accused him of Police brutality. Until his demise, Fraser had been involved in many highprofile anti-crime operations and was instrumental in the siege that led to the death of the notorious Linden London.

Fraser’s widow, Nadera Fraser, told the <<<Sunday Times Magazine>>> her husband joined the Guyana Police Force as a constable, but because of his potential he was encouraged to apply to the Cadet Training Programme offered by the Guyana Defence Force. He was successful in his application and upon completion, returned to the Police Force and spent some time in the Mounted Branch before moving to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Leon and Nadera have a daugh-

ter together and were a couple for over 19 years before he was killed. She describes him as being a quiet and reserved person: “Nadia (our daughter) was nine years old when Leon was killed. He was a quiet person and very reserved.

As a matter of fact when we met, I was the one who approached him and that should tell you about the type of person he was. He was very reserved not in a manner of being ignorant of his environment, because he was always alert.”

She said that while Fraser was one of the most respected Policemen of his time, he was also very domesticated. He was also disciplined in a sense that the world did not see. She and their daughter got to see it every day when he would get up at 05:00h and clean the stove, make coffee, cook and then go off for exercise with his squad.

He always helped around the house that they shared at Police Headquarters, Eve Leary.

“He got discipline from the Force. He started as a constable and then he was pushed to complete the cadet course and from there, he took off.

What he learned there (at the cadet course) during the rigorous training, he applied it to his work even though some people may say unorthodox or he did it different, but it was effective in achieving the end result,” his widow noted.

Nadera has always been a businesswoman and on April 2, 2002, a container loaded with goods had just arrived and she was going to have it cleared through Customs. She vividly remembers the last conversation she had with Leon and says that unto today it is burned into her memory.

“He had called me and told me that when he is off duty, he will get some of his boys and we will empty the container; that was while I was going to clear it. But when he called back later that afternoon, around quarter to one (12:40h), I told him that we have to wait until the next day and he said that was good, because he now have to go up the Highway

to check out a report about the car the bandits had hijacked on Good Friday day.”

She said she was at the stall in Stabroek Market when rumours started circling about her husband’s death. One of the vendors then called her and enquired about whether the rumours were true, but she had no knowledge.

“About an hour later, one of his friends came and said ‘Nadie, I got something to tell you’ and he said that we got to go to the (funeral) parlour and identify the body. Me and my daughter went and we identified the body and so on.”

It was not until later that night a senior officer reached out to the family and officially informed them of Fraser’s death.

His death hit Nadera so hard that when she got the news, she just sank to the ground and could not have moved afterwards. A feeling of numbness overtook her body and she was in a daze.

She has very little memory of the days after her husband’s death.

Nadera became extremely cautious and fearful for her family’s lives and slipped into severe depression. She had to have the

intervention of doctors before she could begin to do anything else.

The business she worked so hard to build was dwindling away and she had no drive to work again.

However, she found the strength in her daughter and began pushing forward. After two months, she returned to work and began rebuilding. She remained a resident at Eve Leary for over five years after her husband’s death and has since moved out and even got remarried.

“Even though I am remarried, I still do miss him. He was a part of me and he was a very good man. When he died, my daughter took it very hard because he would wake up every morning and do his thing and take her to school before 8:00 am. When we went to the parlour to identify his body, she screamed there and after we went home, she screamed and threw down the furniture, but since then she has been bottling up her feelings. She is just like him. She is reserved and don’t talk too much. She just goes on with life.”

The night before he was killed was Easter Monday and Fraser was supposed to take Nadera and

Nadia to the seawalls to hang out, but he did not, and what he told them made it clear that he was aware of the level of danger he was in.

“We were to go to the seawall, but he sat in his room and he took all his shoes with Nadia and they sat down and they polished all the shoes. He even told me to bring mine and they polished it.

3That night he told me that “they planning to kill me, you know’. That’s why we did not go out Easter Monday night. The morning before he died, he had this safari jacket and he put it on. I told him that if you got to go out aren’t you supposed to put on a bullet-proof? He said ‘one time you got to dead, not two time you does dead’ and I said put on your bullet-proof and he said when he go over (to Police HQ), he will put it on.”

Nadera said that she was aware when her husband was killed, many persons were “jubilating”, but she sought to remind that he was only doing what he was trained to do and that was to catch the bad guys and ensure that there was peace in Guyana.

6 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Preserving our literary heritage

By Petamber Persaud

(T

he Commonwealth Writers recently announced the Overall and Regional winners for its 2019 short story competition. The Regional winners are Mbozi Haimbe (Zambia), Saras Manickam (Malaysia), Constantia Soteriou (Cyprus), Alexia Tolas (The Bahamas), Harley Hern (New Zealand), and the Overall winner is Constantia Soteriou.

Guyanese Kevin Garbaran was shortlisted from 5,081 entries. This is the first time he has entered such a competition.

Here he talks about his short Story, ‘The Ol’ Higue on Market Street’.)

PP Guyanese writers have benefited and continue to made good use of the platform provided by the Commonwealth Foundation. Going back a long way, we find Grace Nichols winning the Commonwealth [Poetry] Prize with ‘I is a longmemoried woman’, David Dabydeen with ‘Slave Song’; for short fiction and the novel, we turn to Mark McWatt, Karen King-Aribisala, and Pauline Melville; for writers who have been shortlisted for the short story include Maggie Harris and you, Kevin – and at this point I must say congratulations…

KG Thank you.

PP Awesome news that – you been shortlisted from a huge number of entries….

KG 5,081 PP Dennis Nichols won

the short story competition in 2000/2001 with ‘The Release’ – a well-crafted story of under 600 words, I think. You are fortunate that you had 5,000 words to play with.

But let’s get back to the shortlist – an entry that has been shortlisted has the potential to be the winner.

So you are a winner in my book.

Let’s locate Kevin Garbaran.

KG I was born in Haslington, [East Coast Demerara] and grew up in Zorg on the Essequibo

Coast…

PP Quite a few writers from the Essequibo…

KG My primary school days were at Suddie Primary. After that I went to President College because I always wanted to experience life in the dormitory – I was really inspired

by Harry Potter – where children from all over the world would come and interact. So my thinking was by going to President’s College I would meet people from all over Guyana and it would be exciting. However, President’s College was not

like Hogwarts …

PP But it did have magic there.

KG Yes, it was a magical experience. I spent many days in the library there and it was there I took a liking to literature.

Before that I read a few stories and lots of nonfiction on subjects like dinosaurs, stars and the universe – things like that. But literature for me really started there at President’s College.

PP And the types of books?

KG Mostly, mythological stuff – stories from ancient India, ancient Greece, ancient Egypt, those stories really got me started.

Then I discovered Arundhati Roy, Emiley Bronte…moving on from there.

PP And you moved into writing. Where did this start?

KG I started journaling when I was 9 or 10 and I continued that throughout my school days because it was a way of making sense of the world, making sense of my experiences and I wanted to record that.

Apart from that, when I was much younger, I used to make up characters for my many cousins, and I would give each a character and we would put on a show for our parents and also the neighbours we had invited.

So that is where it started.

PP Keeping a journal is valuable to a writer, valuable material for your writing. I recall writers like A J Seymour and others keeping a diary including Edgar Mittelholzer who use to record things like the weather, in fact, his writing is heavily influenced by the weather [among other things].

KG Yes, I can go back to how I viewed situations in the past; sort of observe the headspace I had at a given time.

I like writing about childhood – childhood experiences. I may not remember everything but during the writing, I would slip back into that time. mentioned PP You something about getting into the writer’s head and I like doing that – finding out how a writer approach a particular subject/issue as we know there is nothing new under the sun…

KG True PP So we look for new approaches, new angles and this brings me to your short story which was shortlisted, ‘The Ol’ Higue on Market Street’. I’ve read numerous stories even poems about the Ol’ Higue, what is your take on Ol’ Higue?

KG I wanted to use the Ol’ Higue as a metaphor for such issues that are prevalent in our society …

PP Like?

KG Domestic violence and abuse - when you think about the Ol’ Higue, you conjure images of horror and violence. The story was also triggered by an incident where this woman named Radika was beaten to death because people claimed she was an Ol’ Higue. So in my story I sort of sympatise with her….

PP Interesting, intriguing, tell me more… (to be continued) Responses to this author please telephone 226-0065

of email: oraltradition2002@ yahoo.com

What’s happening:

Coming soon: A new book by Ameena Gafoor: ‘The Evolution of Writing in English By and About East Indians of Guyana, 1838 – 2018’. And it is here: ‘The Dark of the Sea’

by Imam Baksh, two times winner of the Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature.

Many heroes fall during battle This fight for freedom often costs These men and women we send to foreign shores Often it these lives that are lost.

But they will not be forgotten We honour those souls that slip away And know that they've become angels In heaven, on this day.

The memory of them lives on As we sleep we see their face The dreams seem so very real We often imagine their warm embrace.

God has given them free reign To whisper gently to the trees To glide effortlessly among the clouds And dry your tears with a breeze.

So as long as we are alive We will hold them in our hearts And as long as we can breathe Our heroes will never be apart.

So as we bury you with honor We will grieve, then heal & pray And even though we'll miss you We'll be reunited in heaven one day.

By Linda Racaniello

guyanatimesgy.com

JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 7

Lindener’s passion for helping others leads to a blossoming career in physiotherapy

By Utamu Belle

T

here’s a school of thought which says, “Do what you love and you’ll never work another day in your life”. Just ask 32-year-old Lindener Quacy Paddy, whose natural passion for helping people has led him down the successful path of a blossoming career in physiotherapy.

Paddy has been working as a Rehabilitation Assistant/ Physiotherapist in the Rehabilitation Department of the Linden Hospital Complex (LHC) for over 10 years. Physiotherapy involves working to restore the movement and function of parts of the body in persons affected by a disability, illness, or injury. <<< Sunday Times Magazine>>> recently sat down with the inspirational father of two, who revealed how this passion has also led him down the path of self-development and service to his community. He hopes that his story inspires other young people to work hard in pursuing their dreams and what they love to do.

“In 2014, I decided to attend the University of Guyana, specialising in physiotherapy. The programme I did was Bachelor’s Degree in Medical Rehabilitation, majoring in Physiotherapy.

I graduated in 2018 and restarted working here. Since then, I’ve been putting the knowledge I gained at University to use. Actually, giving back more of myself in terms of not only looking at the surface level of a Rehab Assistant but more utilising the skills and looking at the patients more holistically rather than just looking at their condition,” Paddy noted.

Following his graduation from UG last year, Paddy, who is also a major football fan, pursued a number of upgrading courses, including an International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) training medicine course, which was done through the Upper Demerara Football Association (UDFA). This

afforded him an opportunity recently to travel to neighbouring Suriname with the Guyana men’s senior team in preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. This, he noted, has upgraded his knowledge about basic principles in the football arena.

Following this, he was selected to travel to Mexico to work along with the Golden Jaguars Beach Football team which participated in the World Cup Qualifiers.

He has also worked with the Lady Jaguars Under-17 team in preparation for a tournament next month.

For him, having the opportunity to incorporate sports and physiotherapy is like a dream come true.

“When I was a Rehab Assistant, I worked a lot in football ... I have a passion for sports as well. I’ve always been a sports person,” Paddy explained.

He has also worked with athletes on the Linden Mayor’s Cup football, which he noted set the stage for his skills to be recognised.

Physiotherapy, he noted, has opened up new horizons for him.

“It’s kind of tedious, but it’s worth it, especially with the exposure it brings ... It’s opened up a new world for me in that I never knew of ‘persons with disabilities’.

(Before) I just saw people on the road looking different and people teasing them and I would join in, but I never knew the severity of it ... but being in this profession ... you get to appreciate persons in a better way,” he explained.

Paddy said working with patients with conditions such as cerebral palsy also gives an understanding of how parents have to cope with this type of disability.

“It’s disheartening sometimes to see a mother financially unable to come to therapy or a parent whose partner walked out on them because of a child with disability .. . but you have to try and not let that get into the way of your intervention.

It’s a caring profession. We spend more one-on-one time with the patients than the

doctor,” he said.

He added that the knowledge he has gained on looking at patients holistically has assisted him in learning more about them rather than just focusing on the issue that he was presented with. This, he noted, also leads to the discovery of contributing factors to the immediate issue they are being faced with.

“I have a natural passion for helping people ... I always wanted to go into a profession whereby I can give back to the community of Linden, which bred me basically. I also wanted to do something in science because in school I was in AgriScience (stream),” he said.

While he has always had a love for science, he joked, “I didn’t want to be a nurse, because I didn’t want anybody calling me ‘Nursey’”.

He said he has no regrets in choosing the field which fit perfectly with his character. And working along with patients and seeing their gratitude months or even years after is both satisfying and motivating. This, he explained, is also one of the reasons why he decided to

specialise in physiotherapy which also includes speech and occupational therapy.

Being a father of two boys, Paddy related that his days are very busy. It starts off with preparing the kids

for school, then taking them and his niece to school before commencing his eighthour work-day at the hospital. He also sees private patients later on in the day, which is wrapped up by helping his children with homework. His busy schedule also entails working at local football tournaments.

He credits his personal developments with attending University, noting that it has opened up new horizons and assisted him with problem-solving skills.

“I don’t focus on problems now, I just focus on solutions.

If I have a challenge, I try to find solutions,” he noted.

Nevertheless, Paddy highlighted a major challenge for his department in sensitising the public about rehabilitation services. He pointed out that sometimes patients are only referred to the Department when they are at advanced stages of their conditions. As such, he encouraged persons to visit the Department in the early stages of discomfort, noting that audiology services were also available.

While it has been challenging to balance attending University and his fami-

ly life, Paddy said he was far from finished as it pertained to pursuing his dreams.

“I’ve accomplished so much, but I’m far from finished. I really hope to pursue my Master’s in Sport Medicine. I’m hoping that I can get a scholarship to study overseas for that. I really love sports and Sport Medicine would channel me to that direction. So, that is one of my future goals – to elevate to a Master’s level, even to go on to a doctorate level ... I do believe in three things – prayers, perseverance and patience. I believe that if you practise those three things it will take you to places you’ve never been,” he advised.

Paddy said it has been a blessing to have come this far and being presented with the opportunities he’s had, more so as someone from the town of Linden. He encourages youths to always do their best and to be prayerful and patient in seeking out opportunities.

“When you’re given the opportunity, don’t squander it. Go hard for it ... I have always believed in building bridges, not burning them,” he said.

8 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

O

riginally constructed in 1827, the St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Anglican Church celebrates its 192nd anniversary this year.

According to information from the National Trust of Guyana, the church, which is still operational, was first opened for service on December 9, 1827. The structure was replaced by the present one on June 29, 1855.

Prior to the erection of the first church, services were held under a clump of bamboo trees. On November 25, 1826 a meeting was held in the house of Captain Thierens of Plantation Vissailvalligheid. At this meeting it was decided that a church and parsonage should be built. A site was chosen on the front lands of Plantation Enterprise, Leguan. On December 9, 1827 the church was opened for service.

The church, which is built of bricks, was originally covered by a roof of wallaba shingles; this was later replaced by metal roofing. At the left of the north-western entrance stands the detached bell tower, surmounted by an octagonal brick spire. With this artistic design and leaning tower, St Peterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Church is located on 10,843 acres of land and is regarded as one of the finest brick structures constructed in Guyana.

The Church was rededicated on Saturday June 29, 2019. (Photos compliments of Hans Buer)

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JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine

9

Health

H

airy cell leukemia is a rare, slow-growing cancer of the blood in which your bone marrow makes too many B cells (lymphocytes), a type of white blood cell that fights infection.

These excess B cells are abnormal and look “hairy” under a microscope. As the number of leukemia cells increases, fewer healthy white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets are produced.

Hairy cell leukemia affects more men than women, and it occurs most commonly in middle-aged or older adults.

Hairy cell leukemia is considered a chronic disease because it may never completely disappear, although treatment can lead to a remission for years.

Symptoms

Some people have no signs or symptoms of hairy cell leukemia, but a blood test for another disease or condition may inadvertently reveal hairy cell leukemia.

Other times people with hairy cell leukemia experience signs and symptoms common to a number of diseases and conditions, such as: A feeling of fullness in your abdomen that may make it uncomfortable to eat more than a little at a time Fatigue Easy bruising Recurring infections Weakness Weight loss

Causes

It’s not clear what causes hairy cell leukemia.

Doctors know that cancer occurs when cells develop errors (mutations) in their DNA. In the case of hairy cell leukemia, mutations in the DNA cause your bone marrow stem cells to create too many white blood cells that don’t work properly.

Doctors don’t know what causes the DNA mutations that lead to hairy cell leukemia.

of infections that your body might otherwise fight off.

Bleeding.

Low platelet counts make it hard for your body to stop bleeding once it starts. If you have a mildly low platelet count, you might notice that you bruise more easily. Very low platelet counts can cause spontaneous bleeding from the nose or gums.

Anemia.

A low red blood cell count means fewer cells are available to carry oxygen throughout your body. This is called anemia. Anemia causes fatigue.

Increased risk of second cancers

Some studies have found that people with hairy cell leukemia may have an increased risk of developing a second type of cancer. It isn’t clear whether this risk is due to hairy cell leukemia’s effect on the body or if the risk comes from the medications used to treat hairy cell leukemia.

Second cancers found in people treated for hairy cell leukemia include non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, among others.

Diagnosis

To diagnose hairy cell leukemia, your doctor may recommend:

Physical exam.

By feeling your spleen — an oval-shaped organ on the left side of your upper abdomen — your doctor can determine if it’s enlarged. An enlarged spleen may cause a sensation of fullness in your abdomen that makes it uncomfortable to eat.

Your doctor may also check for enlarged lymph nodes that may contain leukemia cells.

Blood tests.

Risk factors

Your doctor uses blood tests, such as the complete blood count, to monitor the levels of blood cells in your blood.

People with hairy cell leukemia have low levels of all three types of blood cells — red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Another blood test called a peripheral blood smear looks for hairy cell leukemia cells in a sample of your blood.

Exposure to radiation.

During a bone marrow biopsy, a small amount of bone marrow is removed from your hip area. This sample is used to look for hairy cell leukemia cells and to monitor your healthy blood cells.

Certain factors may increase your risk of developing hairy cell leukemia. Not all research studies agree on what factors increase your risk of the disease.

Some research indicates that your risk of hairy cell leukemia increases based on your: People exposed to radiation, such as those who work around X-ray machines and do not wear adequate protective equipment or those who received radiation treatment for cancer, may have a higher risk of developing hairy cell leukemia, but the evidence is inconclusive.

Exposure to chemicals.

There are conflicting studies on the role of industrial and agricultural chemicals in hairy cell leukemia development.

Complications

Hairy cell leukemia progresses very slowly and sometimes remains stable for many years. For this reason, few complications of the disease occur.

Untreated hairy cell leukemia that progresses may crowd out healthy blood cells in the bone marrow, leading to serious complications, such as:

Infections.

Reduced numbers of healthy white blood cells put you at risk

Bone marrow biopsy.

Computerized tomography (CT) scan.

A CT scan shows detailed images of the inside of your body.

Your doctor may order a CT scan to detect enlargement of your spleen and your lymph nodes.

Careful analysis of hairy cell leukemia cells in your blood and bone marrow samples may reveal certain genetic and chemical changes that give your doctor an idea of your prognosis and play a role in determining your treatment options.

Treatment

It’s not always necessary to start treatment for hairy cell leukemia immediately after the diagnosis is confirmed. Because this cancer progresses very slowly and sometimes doesn’t progress at all, treatment can be delayed.

10 Sunday Times Magazine Feature

T

he preppy style has enjoyed a high fashion renaissance in past years, which means chino shorts have taken a bold turn. Pastels are hot, but if you want to steer away from a fratty look, change up your colors. Khaki is a neutral option, but you don’t have to play it safe. Black or navy shorts can add new life to your wardrobe.

A pair of athletic shorts, be it mesh or sweat, is an easy option when the situation is casual.

Athleisure is a legitimate fashion cornerstone these days, so don’t feel like they can only be worn with tees and tanks.

Branch out and try to work them into your social attire. As with all shorts, avoid overly baggy and long choices. You don’t want to look you hopped out of your dad’s 70s basketball photos, but just above the knee is always a solid bet.

JUly 21, 2019

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JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 11

Home décor Ingredients • • • • • •

2-8.5 oz box corn muffin mix 2 Eggs 1/2 cup sour cream 2/3 cup Milk 3 tbsp melted butter 1/2 Jalapeno finely diced

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and pour into an 8 x8 baking pan that’s been greased with butter. Place into preheated oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the top with butter before serving.

(Jehan Can Cook)

S

ome people have a natural eye for design, but if you're more in the camp of those who can't do anything without consulting Pinterest board upon Pinterest board before making any major changes, we feel you. We'd love to have an interior designer on speed dial before deciding exactly where and how hang to hang that sweet new wall art we bought on a whim, but until we win the lottery, we'll have to settle for trusting our guts, and taking plenty of design tips where we can get them. We've compiled some secrets straight from the pros to help you with all your decorating needs. (House Beautiful)

Mix Old and New Decor Old and new belong together.

A mix of modern pieces and antiques never tires.

Ingredients • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

1 1/2 lb ground turkey 1 large onion, chopped 2 tbsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp cumin 1 1/2 tsp chili powder 1 tsp oregano 2 canned chipotle peppers, chopped 1 tsp salt 3 tbsp sugar 2 beef bouillon 15 oz can chili beans 15 oz can kidney beans, drained 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1 cup water 1 tbsp canola oil

Directions

In a large pot over medium fire, heat oil. Add onions and turkey, cook until brown.

Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and allow to simmer for 1 1/2 hour. Serve by itself or with cornbread. *Garnish with sour cream, cheddar cheese, chopped scallions or pickled jalapenos.

(Jehan Can Cook)

Choose the Right Bulbs Choosing the right light bulb is very important.

LED bulbs are energy efficient, and they can look great.

Use the Ceiling to Redefine the Room Look up! We use ceilings a lot.

Through them, we define the lines and beauty of a space.

Ingredients • • • •

3 cups green mango peel and diced, about 1 large mango (discard the seed) 4 cups water Juice of 2 limes 1 cup simple syrup

Directions

Place diced mango and water in a blender and puree. When the mango is finely pureed, place a large strainer over a large pitcher and pour the pureed mango into the strainer to separate the liquid from the pulp. Stir the pulp with a spoon until all of the liquid is removed, then discard the pulp. Next add the simple syrup and lime juice and stir to combine. Place in a refrigerator until cold, then serve. (Jehan Can Cook)

White Kitchens Are Forever Classics never go out of style.

Don’t hesitate about doing a white kitchen in your own house, thinking I’d been there, done that.

12 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Puzzles

ACROSS 1 Put on a coat 6 LeMond or Louganis 10 Low-tech calculators 15 Left Bank lid 20 Roman soothsayer 21 Steel plow inventor 22 La Scala city 23 Burro alternative 24 Where Minos ruled 25 Facetious tribute 26 Discharge 27 Tylenol rival 28 Cosmic principle 29 Farewell 30 Formal-wear flower 32 More nervous 34 Fern or moss 36 Yellow Pages 37 Excited 40 MD assistants 41 Suffix for verb 42 Mushroom morsel 44 “Star Trek” priestess 48 Yes in Yokohama 49 Mom’s girl 50 Waiter’s offering 53 Greeted the day 55 Codgers’ queries 56 -- Powers of spydom 58 Sanskrit dialect 59 Lieutenant under Kirk 61 Up -- -- (stumped) 63 Cote murmur 64 Gen. Powell 65 What you wear 66 REM events 67 Orchard units 69 Slangy refusals 70 Nefertiti’s god 71 Gym dances 74 Have lunch 75 Stream forth 78 “Imagine” composer 81 First space lab 82 Graceful wrap 83 Finish 84 Blend 86 “Where Eagles Dare” actress 87 Negligible 89 Orange liqueur 93 Bikini half 94 Hook’s henchman 95 Geologic sample 96 Hobgoblin 97 Entices (2 wds.)

100 Like a wedding cake

102 Vaulter’s aid 103 UHF part 104 Spacious 108 Fumbled for words 109 Jo March’s professor 110 Goalie’s milieu 111 Waste time 112 Famous Khan 113 Divide 115 Earnest request 116 Caramel-colored 117 Under par 118 Opus 120 Popeye’s sweetie 121 Company VIP 123 W. Hemisphere alliance 124 Flake off 125 Perfume label word 127 Column order 129 Dance studio wear 131 Fortune (2 wds.)

136 Cake decoration 138 Pulls dandelions 142 Claws or talons 143 “-- the Riveter” 144 Wolfgang’s thanks 145 Sound 146 Philbin or Sajak 147 Shaman’s quests 148 Threw hen fruit 149 Common expression 150 Siskel cohort 151 Whinny 152 Grass stalk 153 -- Dame

DOWN 1 Stuff the suitcase 2 Mystique 3 Disney’s Bob - 4 Spice rack item 5 Escalator part 6 Hollow rocks 7 Broadcast again 8 Gaelic 9 Outfit 10 Pseudopod users (var.)

11 The fish that got away? (2 wds.)

12 Walrus hunter 13 Players 14 Crazy about 15 Mild 16 First-born 17 Shankar the sitarist 18 Sheik colleague 19 Legend 21 Culverts

KATHLEEN SAXE

WORD GAME TODAY'S WORD -- COTILLIONS (COTILLIONS: kuh-TIL-yuns: Formal balls.)

Average mark 37 words Time limit 60 minutes Can you find 56 or more words in COTILLIONS?

TODAY'S WORD -- COTILLIONS clot coil coin colitis collins collision colon colonist colt cool coot cost olio onto otic

till tocsin toil toll tonic tonsil tool icon instill into licit lilt lint lion list

loin loon loot lost lotic lotion noil scion scoot silicon sill silo silt slit slot

snit soil solicit solo solon sonic soon soot still stoic stool

RULES OF THE GAME: 1. Words must be of four or more letters. 2. Words that acquire four letters by the addition of "s," such as "bats" or "dies," are not allowed. 3. Additional words made by adding a "d" or an "s" may not be used. For example, if "bake" is used, "baked" or "bakes" are not allowed, but "bake" and "baking" are admissible. 4. Proper nouns, slang words, or vulgar or sexually explicit words are not allowed.

31 Ponytail site 33 Cheshire Cat, finally 35 Singer -- Rawls 37 “Pequod” skipper 38 It had three parts 39 River to the Seine 42 Marathoner’s gorge 43 Police-blotter info 45 Yearly (2 wds.)

46 Polite cough 47 “Has 1,001 --” 49 In -- (as found) 50 Browser’s delight 51 Beethoven’s “Fur --” 52 Anais the writer 53 Rathskeller fare 54 Flitted about 57 Keep -- on 58 Lyrical 59 Kenya neighbor 60 Very funny! (hyph.)

62 Babysitter, often 64 Grill steaks 66 J.R.’s town 68 At the table

69 A Sinatra 71 “-- Pinafore” 72 Lubricate 73 Buyer’s gain (2 wds.)

76 Skimpy 77 Leave on a trip 79 Refinery shipment 80 Bridal notice word 82 Destroys documents 85 Earth goddess 88 Wound a matador 90 Submarine (hyph.)

91 Cattle-call reward 92 Dragon puppet 94 Powder, to skiers 98 Noted lava spewer 99 Algerian port 100 Warm spell in winter 101 Desdemona’s foe 102 Collins or Esposito 103 Web addr.

105 “Garfield” pooch 106 Marseilles Ms. 107 Raise one’s voice 109 Traveler Nellie --

111 Track meet event 114 Rain hard 115 Taro-root paste 116 Gave a ticket 119 Alley frequenter 121 Murmuring sweetly 122 Snare 123 Acted like a pig 124 Not real 126 Selling point 127 Japanese immigrant 128 Halloween quaff 129 Hint of color 130 Samuel Clemens 131 Troublesome joint 132 Metrical foot 133 Genial 134 Elvis -- Presley 135 Iditarod terminus 137 Zoo enclosure 139 Touch up 140 Designer label 141 Vague amount See Solution on page 14

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JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 13

14 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Bollywood/Hollywood

dominated the 2019

Emmy nominations

A

fter Netflix beat out HBO last year for total Emmy nominations, HBO returned to its usual dominant position in 2019, earning a whopping 137 total Emmy nominations, thanks to Game of Thrones’ final season.

The network secured a total of 32 nominations for Game of Thrones, breaking the previous record held by NYPD Blue (26 nominations in 1994). HBO’s other 105 nominations this year came from series like Barry (17 nominations) and Chernobyl (19 nominations). HBO also earned nearly three times as many nominations as the four traditional networks (ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS) combined.

There’s no denying that Game of Thrones is a rare cultural juggernaut. More than 45 million people tuned in for the show’s final episodes, according to HBO. It’s logical that the Emmy voting body would honor the series, which shaped television culture more than almost any other series over the last decade. And that comes in spite of how negatively Game of Thrones’ final season was received by both fans and critics. Mad Men and Breaking Bad were both significant and influential, but Game of Thrones turned appointment TV into a worldwide obsession all the way through its series finale. That’s incredibly rare.

A

ctor Arbaaz Khan said he initially had concerns about starring in Sridevi Bungalow as the subject of the film appeared to be linked with superstar Sridevi’s death.

The film features Priya Prakash Varrier in the title role, while Arbaaz will be seen in a guest appearance portraying the part of a Bollywood actor.

Sridevi Bungalow was mired into controversy as the plot line of the film seemed to make a reference to Sridevi’s demise.

The last shot of the trailer ends with Priya’s character dying in a bathtub.

Sridevi, aged 53, died of accidental drowning in her hotel room’s bathtub in Dubai in February 2018. The late actor’s husband-producer Boney Kapoor had issued a legal notice to the makers of the film earlier this year.

Asked about the film’s runin with controversy, Arbaaz said, “When they offered me the film, I’d asked them if it has anything to do with the unfortunate incident with Sridevi ji and they denied it completely. They said the story has no relevance with

her and that they had registered the story and the title of the film long back.” The actor-filmmaker said the makers assured him there is no similarity between the late veteran actor and the film.

“They told me they have addressed the issue earlier with the media and that I should be rest assured that just because the title is similar doesn’t mean the film is co-related to the incident that has happened. I got some assurance,” he said. (Hindustan

Times)

Crossword Solution

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JUly 21, 2019

Sunday Times Magazine 15

16 Sunday Times Magazine

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JUly 21, 2019

Fun Times

Archie

ARIES (March 21April 19)

TAURUS (April 20May 20)

Don’t give up or let someone discourage you. Make your plans clear and offer others a choice to pitch in and help or to let you carry on with what you are doing.

Not everyone will be happy with the decisions you make, but the ones who are will be glad to get involved and help you reach your goals. Romance and travel are highlighted.

Stick close to home and GEMINI be with the people you (MAY 28- know well and can depend June 20) on for support. Refuse to let anyone dupe you into something costly or unnecessary.

CANCER (June 21July 22)

LEO (July 23Aug. 22)

Dilbert

You’ll get an education if you allow someone to take too many liberties. Keep an open mind, but don’t get involved in something excessive. Play it safe and stick to what’s familiar.

Take better care of your health and emotional wellbeing. If someone tries to coax you into doing things differently, take a pass and do things your own way.

VIRGO (Aug. 23Sept. 22)

Don’t make a fuss or put up with someone who is doing so. Be realistic about what’s possible. Remain grounded and avoid getting involved in someone else’s scheme.

LIBRA (Sept. 23Oct. 23)

Do something that requires energy. You may not like exercise, but physical activity will benefit your mindset. Go for a walk if it will help you avoid an unsavory discussion.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24Nov. 22)

Peanuts

Personal, emotional or spiritual growth will be eyeopening. Sign up for a course that will broaden your sense of awareness or spark your creativity. Romance is encouraged.

Take care of money matSAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23- ters. It’s time to save money inDec. 21) stead of spending it on things you don’t need. Trusting someone with your emotional issues, personal information or secrets will backfire.

Calvin and Hobbes

Make positive domestic CAPRICORN or lifestyle changes. Looking (Dec. 22- at a property or discussing Jan. 19) your plans with a loved one will prompt you to do things you enjoy more often.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20Feb. 19)

PISCES (Feb. 20Mar. 20)

Follow through with your plans instead of putting someone else first. If you keep putting yourself second, it will create envy and mistrust.

Get out and stay active.

Surround yourself with people who have similar interests or who bring out the best in you. Love and romance should be priorities.